National Grid postpones Lynn project

LYNN – Union Street business owners who have been waiting more than a year for road, sidewalk and lighting improvements along the congested commercial corridor are being asked to exercise additional patience.City officials learned this week that a five-year $16 million project by National Grid, which would have paid for the upgrades, will not even get under way until next spring.The utility initially indicated the installation of an electrical conduit and subsequent street repaving would be complete by the end of 2010.The Union Street work is the first phase of National Grid’s plan to upgrade the underground electrical distribution backbone from lower Union Street near the train station to the Swampscott line, following a route along Broad, Lewis and Ocean streets to Eastern Avenue.”The city was about to repave Union Street, but we held off when we learned that National Grid was going to dig it up. They would be responsible for repaving it anyway, once they ripped it up, so it would be a two-fer for us. We would get it paved and not have to pay for the work,” said James Marsh, the city Community Development director.Unfortunately, National Grid underestimated the magnitude of the job.”We regret the need to delay the start of this project, which has been promised to the people of Lynn,” said Marie Jordan, National Grid vice president of Electric Operations for New England North.According to Jordan, “The scope of the project, including the amount of underground utility equipment that will have to be relocated without disrupting service while following strict safety guidelines, has delayed the entire process.”The work has been rescheduled to begin no later than April 15, 2011, she said.The Union Street phase includes installation of approximately 3.5 miles of underground concrete ducts between Lynn and Swampscott, and replacement and relocation of seven 13,000-volt power lines. The task requires coordination from multiple agencies, city departments and other utilities because the path of the electrical ducts must navigate a labyrinth of sewer pipes, water mains, underground telephone cables and natural gas lines.The Swampscott portion of the project is scheduled to begin in 2012 or 2013, Jordan said.”The plan is for them to do about 70 feet per day along Union Street,” said Marsh. “When we first met with National Grid, we established a timetable based on their estimates. But when they went back to take a closer look at the job, it was clear they could not get it done in 2010. It was an honest error.”Marsh said Union Street merchants and other establishments, including Willow Laboratories, St. Joseph’s Church and the Lynn Community Health Center, which has a new wing under construction, were told the street would be redone in 2010.”The original schedule was based on non-technical data. Once they got down there and saw the challenges they had to overcome, the schedule had to be revised,” he said. “We met again with National Grid and everything was up front. They apologized.”Installation of wrought iron decorative trash barrels and antique lighting are also part of the plan, Marsh said.”This is going to impact all the stores on Union Street, which is a mess,” said Ward 4 Councilor Richard Colucci. “From Walgreens to the Dollar Store, all the people down there, big and small, are trying to make a living.”Public Works Director Jay Fink said Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy asked his department to make Union Street a priority when she took office in January.”The order was to get it done, but the future plan by National Grid to run conduit the entire length of Union Street always put it off a little,” Fink said. “National Grid wanted to move on it during the present construction season, but their engineers needed more time to create a path of least resistance. The job will entail some pretty deep and sizable excavations because of the route the conduit has to take. Some of the trench work will go down 15-20 feet.”Fink said once the excavat